NBC, Sony Return To NATPE Floor

The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) hopes the announced return of NBC Enterprises and Sony Pictures Television to the organization's convention show floor in Las Vegas this January means the rest of the major syndicators will follow.

Rick Feldman, president and CEO of NATPE, said, "We worked with NBC Enterprises and Sony Pictures Television to find creative ways to increase the value proposition of the floor."

So far, only NBC and Sony have confirmed they will be on the floor for the show Jan 18-20. The domestic divisions of Warner Bros. and Buena Vista plan to stay in the hotel suites, but other major syndicators, including King World, Twentieth Television and Universal Domestic Television, are still deciding what their NATPE presence will be.

For the past two years, all of the major syndicators have abandoned the show floor in favor of hotel suites. This year's NATPE will be held at the more centralized Venetian Hotel and Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, and Feldman says that should make things easier on attendees.

Feldman says survey feedback has shown that NATPE attendees prefer the show floor to hotel suites. "I think the floor is going to be a fun place to be," Feldman says. "We're in the television business, not the cement business."